Hey folks, Harry here... I know Dreamworks is really high on this project, as the writers of it now have a production deal over there and are picking up and developing properties for Dreamworks. Sounds cool as hell from the first 45 minutes, and very unBay as he's come to be known. Here ya go...

Hey Harry,

Never submitted before, but I thought I'd drop you a line about The Island,
45 minutes of which screened tonight at the Academy in Beverly Hills. As
someone who has felt something less than like for Michael's previous movies,
I'm happy to say that the first half of The Island is the best film of
Michael Bay's career. He's helped by a very good cast, but it shows a
degree of maturity that's been missing from everything else Bay has done.
The most suprising thing about it for me was that it takes its time to tell
a compelling story and set up characters you can get behind, so when the
mayhem breaks loose it has a tension and urgency that feels earned, instead
of beating you severely about the face and neck from the moment the lights
go down. Before anyone shouts PLANT, I'll admit that I'm involved with the
production, but that doesn't mean I'm being anything but honest. If I
wasn't really happy with it, I'd just keep my mouth shut. From the reaction
of the audience, mostly press (including a few Aint it Cool trolls, I
noticed), I don't think I'm alone.

If the second half is as good as the first, there may be hope for this
summer yet.

Keep up the great work. If you use this, call me Badhat.

and here's this version which goes into more detail and spoilers - but with the same enthusiasm. Here ya go...

Hey harry-

I managed to get into an advance preview of The Island
tonight. Luckily for me there was a lot of confusion
at the front door of the Motion Picture Academy and I
was able to slip in unnoticed. I wasn't really sure
what i was going to see, a friend told me there was to
be a screening of a big sci-fi/action film so i went.

The filmmakers screened the first forty-five minutes
of the movie in its somewhat unfinished form. Walter
Parkes and Laurie MacDonald introduced the footage,
telling a story of how they got involved with the
movie. Considering they are responsible for two of my
favorite movies, Men In Black and Gladiator, I was
interested to say the least! Then Michael Bay got up
and joked about how nervous he was to be showing a
work in progress.

Well he had nothing to be worried about! Sure some of
the scenes had blue screens in the background and some
of the effects were unfinished. But even unfinished
the movie looks great. Really cool environments and
some huge sets.

I don't want to give too many spoilers because a big
part of the fun of this movie is discovering what's
going on along with Ewan McGregor. In broad strokes:
he's a clone who hasn't been told he is one but is
starting to suspect there is something fishy going on.
He is understandably smitten with Scarlett Johansson
and realizes her life is in danger so they try to
escape.

there are a lot of really smart ideas and very
interesting concepts in this story. A bit of Blade
Runner and Clockwork Orange as well as Logan's Run
(the cool parts not the corny 70's damage!)

Obviously McGregor and Johansson are great. The other
actors were as good. Ethan Phillips (I almost didn't
recognize him without the Neelix make-up but his voice
is very distinctive) has a great part as a conspiracy
theorist who has no idea just how much he has
underestimated the conspiracy. Steve Buscemi, Michael
Clarke Duncan, and Sean Bean are in it as well as
Djiman Hounsou who we didn't get to see too much of
since apparently his character is in the second half.

After they showed the first half they also showed a
big chase that happens latter in the film. That was
when you could really appreciate it was a Micheal Bay
film! A very cool high speed freeway chase that has
the cops on these flying jet powered motorcycle kind
of machines. Think The Matrix Reloaded chase with
Return of the Jedi speeder bikes but bigger, faster
and cooler! I can't wait to see that scene again!

I can definitely say my two favorite movies this
summer star Ewan McGregor!

...involved with the production. Does this automatically make him a plant? I guess it boils down to whether or not you think it's possible to be objective or honest about a product or company that one is associated with.

I was very interested in this but a bit less enthusiastic now. The cast got me interested - Ewan and Scarlett being a surefire combination for me. And the story sounded good (despite Dreamworks taking a large part of it from Michael Marshall Smith and refusing to credit him). I was just hoping against hope that Michael Bay would be able to resist being, well, Michael Bay. But the trailer diminished my enthusiasm because every shot looks composed like a music video and I really, really hate that style.

I guess I'll have to hope the story in this is somewheat compelling, cause that'd be the only reason to see this. I can't even enjoy Bay's flicks as junk food just cause the action pieces in his flicks just seem to be repeating themselves so much that by the time he "evolved" into Bad Boys II it almost seemed like I was watching a parody. And someone get Bay an editor, it confounds me that whoever is cutting his films keeps on letting him stretch out such empty flicks so far over the 2 hour mark (and I'm not saying every film needs to be 2 hours or under, just that Bay's films never need to be this long).

Ewan's a great Actor, Scarlett is so hot I'd drink her bathtub water, Bean is cool, Djomoun is cool, Buscemi is King. Car chases, flying bikes, cloning... Admitedly of Bays previous movies I only like The Rock & Armageddon, and then only as a piece of shit popcorn movie that manages to entertain me when I can't be bothered to think. However I still think this film is going to be better than just pure entertainment, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

In the trailer, Scarlett's character sees a billboard with real-life Scarlett Johansson on it. It's an actual ad that exists here in the real world. So Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor's characters are clones of... *drumroll* SCARLETT JOHANSSON AND EWAN MCGREGOR THE CELEBRITIES. Could it really be that lame?

Man, I thought the exact same thing when I saw this trailer...really bad late seventies cinema starring Peter Graves and a lot of hairy, unpleasant-looking people. Made an excellent episode of MST3K, by the way. My favorite line, when one of said hairy people is pressing an equally hairy clone up against a car: "There's a stirring in my little Clonus!"

Period. A great actor who keeps taking whatever he can from the hollywood movie machine. One day, one day, he will get lead role, before I die God, please. Ewan is good but predictable. Michael Bay should do penance for Pearl Harbor. Period.

I read about this in the paper last week and said to my wife, "Isn't this the plot of 'Parts: The Clonus Horror'?" To quote Crow T. Robot, "Wow! She really does smoke after having sex!" Michael Bay -- FEH!!

Sean Bean kinda rocks as a bad guy, and I reckon Djimon Hounsou could definitely play a very scary heavy -I seem to have seen him in mostly gentle giant roles, (and before anyone says, he's not a bad motherfucker with an arsenal in Constantine).
Plus i like Bay's action abilities, (from his earlier stuff, anyway); someone give the guy a story and who knows what can happen?!?!?!

i like michael bay's movies. there, im said it. that man can make action-popcorn-flicks like only a few working directors can. bad boys was great, and so was bad boys 2(i'm a little biased in the latter, for i worked on it). the rock is in my top action movies of all time, armageddon and pearl harbor were good for what they were...mindless eye candy. i sincerely doubt that while watching any of bay's action sequences, one of you thought "boring..." it's just not possible. bay's not there to win academy awards, he's there to blow shit up and leave you with a "holy shit"look on your face. ok...i'll go ahead and give it to you guys, i also agree that the romance scenes in pearl harbor coudn't get more ham-handed if they fist-fucked miss piggy...but...the action sequences made it all worthwhile...in conclusion, it seems that bay has made a critical step up in his carrer by not slamming us over the head with action from the get-go, instead, worrying more about character development...looking forward to "the island" ps: if a "transformers" movie is really in development, there's no better director than bay for it... and goddamnit, where the "thundercats" movie?

Except on one matter, The Rock. In my opinion, that movie was also terrible. Although, Cage and Connery were the most convincing out of ALL the actors to appear in any Bay or Bruckheimer movie. I will NOT see "The Island," but I will complain because of the TV commercials, which, short of changing the channel, I have no control over.

The only redeeming thing Jerry and Michael have ever done is give Bean more screen time in US. The bad thing is that he was not the lead in either National Treasure (which was awful except for Bean who acted subtly and took the money and ran) (everytime Cage opened his yap I laughed outloud in the movie and his lines were not suppose to be funny either) and in this one where he is baddie again.
It seems as though hollyweird is just mentally challenged and can only take amazing Brit actors like Bean, and Tim Roth and Gary Oldman and cast them as bad guys. These are incredibly talented men who can play any role perfectly and subtly, but we knew Hollyweird didn't have a brain.

I realize that people have different tastes. That's why I won't knock you for liking a popular movie I just can't stand. I guess I just won't be seeing this movie until I'm stuck in a hotel somewhere and this pops up on HBO.

Despite what many people think, those of us who yell "PLANT!" do it not because something gives a positive review. We do it when it's clear that the writer is doing an imitation of the "AICN style," which typically means the plant fakes bad grammar, limited vocabulary, excessive exclamation points, and plenty of Harry-esque "geek-outs." Plants always try to throw in a few "negative" comments to ward off weed-killers such as myself. Such comments are usually half-baked and hardly critical (e.g., "if I had to fault the movie, Johnny Depp's performance might be a little too weird for some" or "the violence and gore might have been a little too much for me at times"). Moreover, as with the examples I just gave, the plant knows that such "criticisms" are actually going to appeal to the vast majority of readers here! So, to end this rant, I would just hope future plants would try to be a little more original so it's not so easy to call them out. Give us a challenge. Vile Weeds!

I guarantee this movie will stink, because Spielberg read the script and instantly wanted to make it. Can you imagine reading the script to an action movie, actually finishing the script, and then wanting to make it? Give me a break. And Scarlett Johansson, while hot, is a terrible actress, who brings no emotion to any role, cause she is never present. She has two faces, confused and happy. It worked in Ghost World, barely, and it never worked again, reaching it's awful nadir in the shitfest known as Lost In Translation. Oh yeah, the first Bad Boys was hilarious, why? Cause they cast good henchmen. Same reason Con Air was good, they cast good henchmen. It is the difference between a good action comedy and a bad one.

"I just saw a rough cut and BOY do I have a feeling about this. This WILL BE the 800 pound gorilla of the summer. Within 30 minutes I was so into this film I nearly ripped my cock off and started beating myself over the head with it. I'm sure glad I didn't though, cause I squirted so much jizz on the ceiling it left stalactites! My girlfriend (who normally hates action films), was so thankful I got her into this screening that she invited over her hot friend and they fucked my brains out for 48 hours straight (would've been longer but her friend had to go, her sitcom was shooting in an hour)! If I hadn't seen this, I probably would have killed myself and I'm not even gay!!! After this movie they will BURY Michael Bay's body in the concrete of the Hollywood Walk of Fame after he dies." Of course after the film comes out, people tend to back off a bit.

I've never seen so many moviehaters at those on this site. What are you doing here? You don't even like Harry or his reviews. As for this article, what the hell is wrong with you? GET EXCITED FOR SOMETHING!!! Positive reviews all the way. Still you have to "Oh, it will suck" bla bla bla. Still the articles about the test screenings has said that this film has great acting, interesting ideas, is smart and develops its characters, looks great and fantastic actionsequnces, you're still behaving like the biggest a-holes I've ever seen on a movie site. THE ISLAND seems to be this year's best summer-movie. FANTASIC FOUR is another proof that Script does matter. It looks dreadful to say the least. "I need to borrow your car!" - Yeah, that's cool alright.

As I recall, Spielberg tossed a coin over whether to make Spares or Minority Report with Tom Cruise. The rejected Spares script must have found its way to Michael Bay as The Island. Which means GOOD NEWS no Spares movie with Tom Cruise and in-a-slump Spielberg, but BAD NEWS no Spares movie. Dammit.

It 'iIsn't a terribly original idea (its been talked/worried about as long as clones have been talked/worried about), like the idea of an asteroid hitting the Earth, its just a platform, and I doubt you'd ever find an author/screenwriter saying he "invented" the idea. So simply using the idea doesn't make it a rip off of anything, tha being said, I haven't read or seen any of the pieces people are claiming The Island to have ripped off, so the similarities may run much deeper. But similarities in the premise alone doesn't mean a terrible lot.

Bay will have to do a lot to earn my praise (yes, TB'er I know it would mean SO MUCH to him). Give a monkey with a bad 70's haircut enough cash and you could film my cat taking a shit Bay-style (swirling camera, small-town kids in dungarees flying kites, Affleck's jaw thrusting like the prow of a REALLY BIG ship), but I am not seduced. Pearl Harbour remains one of the worst films I have ever seen. And all through the beautiful slo-mo's of sailors burning, drowning, getting machine-gunned, I couldn't help hearing Bay giggling like a schoolboy saying "Hey, the Pearl Harbour thing was really bad, BUT ISN'T MY BATTLE FOOTAGE SOME COOL SHIT???"

It might be a good movie, but it still looks like the same old Michael Bay. Obligatory badass shot from the ground up of someone stepping out of a car/plane/elevator? Check. Then again, can't really get a bead on anything else. Rumor has it that there aren't a kajillion cuts per scene, so I guess you could call that "evolution."

And I like Ewan McGregor and Scarlet Johanson (good lord, I love her). But, goddamnit, the over the topness of it just drives me up the friggin wall. Look at the last shot from the trailer when the duo are hanging off the falling down flaming letter R or whatever ... no human could survive that. Ever. And the camera angle the way it SWEEPS UP AND DOWN or whatever just seals it for me that the guy is a pretentious cock. I realize there's suspension of disbelief, but jesus tittyfucking christ, its so over the top and its pushing itself as "evolved sensiblity" filmmaking that I want to throw something at the screen.

May 27, 2005, 6:29 a.m. CST

by Jaws2004

All the articles about the 45-minute press screening has been postive. So go and jerk off to that Fantasic Four-trailer again. As for me, I will go to the summer-movie with most story this year, and that is this one.

any quote with 'the _______ movie of the year' is utter crap. THE ISLAND was filmed partly in detroit, there is no way it will be anything but horrible. movie haters? after you've seen 1000's of movies, you get a hint of how crap a movie will be from the trailer. only a handful of trailers have ever fooled me, most notable being the fifth element, looked so stupid, but was such a great movie.

but uhh, the problem with this movie is it tries to have a scifi plot. bad boys and the rock work alright, even repeat viewings. over and over again on FX! but adding scifi to an action movie usually ends up with bad results. throw in a younger cast and blam. damn did bad boys 2 suck.

I&#39;ve seen the same 45 minutes and the film looks almost exactly like &#39;The Matrix&#39; and all of its clones that came after. Plus it looks like every other Michael Bay film ever made including a car chase that is exactly like the chases in &#39;Bad Boys II&#39;. This man doesn&#39;t have one original bone in his body. Why do you think his production company is remaking old horror films.